Epilepsy among parents of children with cleft lip and palate

It is well established that children of mothers with epilepsy may suffer from facial clefts more frequently than children of non-epileptic mothers. However, a wide range of prevalence rates in this particular population is quoted in the literature. The majority of studies were performed by screening epileptic mothers for the presence of facial clefts in their offspring. The present study screened a relatively large group of children with primary facial clefts and established the prevalence rate of epilepsy among their mothers. It was found that the frequency of epilepsy among Jewish Israeli mothers to children with facial clefts is four times higher and the frequency of facial clefts in children of epileptic mothers is six times higher than in the respective normal population.